Grand Census - DGP - Traveller

[Supplement Four]

I got off my lazy duff and re-listed this: DGP's Grand Census. It will go live on Monday. Yeah, it's expensive, but it's also very rare and one of the best works for Classic Traveller ever published, imo. This is the second time I've listed it (did it last year, once), but this time I've made use of the Buy It Now.

Clicky, clicky.


First, there was Book 3 - Worlds and Adventure that helped Traveller Refs create star systems. Then, Book 6 - Scouts came along to go a step further in creating detailed worlds. DGP built upon both of those books with Grand Census, a work that helps a Traveller Ref detail the people and aliens on those worlds.

Cultural Design: Extensive rules, charts, and tables to tell you everything about the cultural characteristics of a world: details of social outlook, types of governments, organizational structures, detailed law levels, unusual customs, and intelligent native life.

Detailed Tech Levels: A complete, official breakdown of tech levels, with different classifications for energy, computers/robotics, communications, medicine, environmental control, transport-systems, weapons, and more.

Cultural Profile Form: The new Imperial Scout Form 22, to record all the cultural details of a world.

Landing Party Contact Procedures: How contacts with alien civilizations are made, including new skills for Scout characters.

High-tech Exploration Equipment: New equipment for Traveller, including the pocket medical scanner and med scanner-computer, a portable neural activity sensor and handset, pocket communicators and commdots, a data-display/recorder head piece, and high-tech field glasses, with an illustration for every item.

New Vessels: Illustrated descriptions of the four-man air/raft, the survey G-carrier, the enclosed two-man G-tube, the grav bike, and the tech level 15 grav belt.

 

[Wil Mireu]

Most if not all of it was reprinted in DGP's World Builders Handbook (also very rare, and also includes Grand Census). If you're a collector and want/need this to finish your collection then go for it.

However, if you want a more current book about scouts and worldbuidling to use, you are much better off getting GURPS Traveller: First In. That book is pretty much the same idea as WBH (it's half about Scouts/contact, half about worldbuilding), is a lot more realistic and more modern, and is still useful for other Traveller editions. It's also still currently available as a PDF for pretty cheap. ( http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=SJG30-6605 )

 

[Supplement Four]

I own Grand Census, Grand Survey, and the World Builder's Handbook (as well as TNE's World Tamer's Handbook). All are very good books.

I play Classic Traveller these days, so I use Grand Census and Grand Survey, since those books were written for that edition of Traveller. When I used to play MegaTraveller, I used the World Builder's Handbook. It's written for MT, using the MT tasks and rules. I never played TNE, and thus, my World Tamer's Handbook has never gotten any use (and I'm thinking of selling all of my TNE stuff--most of it hasn't been used).

I tend to use stuff from the same edition. I hate converting between game editions. Some Traveller Ref's don't, but I do. Time is such a premium these days.

All of the books have stuff in common, and all of them have stuff not repeated in the others.

I never got around to purchasing the GURPS Traveller books, since I don't play GURPS Trav. I find GT a hard conversion to CT. Sure, some of the rules-free text can be used, but a lot of time is required to convert throws from the GT system to CT to ensure the probability is the same. I've heard that the GT books are generally of good quality, though.

 

[Supplement Four]

Update: I've received a bid on the book. Auction ends tomorrow morning.

Clicky, clicky, if interested.